Was Love Meant to Last Forever?

By Jena Isle“Will you marry me?” he asked breathlessly. Her smile was like the sun breaking through the darkened sky.

“Yes,“ she said, and their hungry lips met to seal their undying love for each other.

What a wonderful love story!

I closed the book and stared dreamily at its cover. There were two figures blissfully entwined in a tight embrace.

Alas! I sighed. Real life stories usually do not have “happily-ever-after” endings. Broken families around me were enough proof of that. I would rather fantasize about my “knight –in shining armor” through the novels that I read than be part of the drama in real life.

July 01, 2000:

Life is one big irony; however, for on this day, I said goodbye to being single. I understood then what lovers meant when they said that “Smoke gets in your eyes” or that “Love is blind.” Indeed, I was so madly and deeply in love with Jayson, that I opted to be “blind” to the uncertainties of the future and was willing to “cross the seven seas” for him. So on this glorious day, we exchanged marriage vows and it was the start of a new life for me.

August 23, 2004:

God had blessed us with two bubbly kids: a boy and a girl. They had their father’s chinky eyes, thick eyebrows, obstinate nose; each complemented all the other facial features to almost perfection. I was thankful they got nothing from my plain looks.

As I had forseen, married life was a bed of roses – with countless thorns. It entailed lots of sacrifices: I was expected to do all the countless household chores even if I had an 8 to 5 daytime job: in the office –piles of paperwork , screaming deadlines, tumultuous meetings; then when I went home – smelly diapers, baby tantrums, sleepless nights and many more. There were also times that I would have to tolerate my husband’s behavior. When he came home from a drinking spree with his comrades in uniform, I would patiently sponge his body with lukewarm water. These were all the sprinkles of salt that had made my married life more meaningful. I had no complaints because I knew these were all part of the package.

June 03, 2006:

Life though had so much more in store for me, for on this fateful day, I sat staring dazedly at the phone. I tried to control the spasms of sobs that rose to my throat. We had three kids by then and they were joyously romping with their father in the backyard. I thought my Calvary was over when Jayson was acquitted from a “robbery case” and was eventually reinstated in the military service a year before, but how wrong I was! Here was another tempest about to wreak havoc in my family.

“Jayson told me that we’ll be together soon,” she had purred into the phone. “A few more years perhaps, until your youngest is of an age to understand.”

I believed her then, for she had known a secret which I had always thought, only I and Jayson knew about.

I did not have enough courage to confront Jayson. What I knew was that I still loved him with the same intensity, after all the years that had passed. Did he still love me? I wanted to ask him then but whenever I started to do so, my eyes would brim with tears and a lump in my throat would choke my words. So, whenever he caught me teary-eyed, I made plausible excuses.

“We are on red alert. I won’t be coming home tonight, please go to sleep early,” he would say, during the nights he was not able to come home.I convinced myself that he was telling the truth, but now and then I would catch a whiff of a woman’s perfume on his shirt.

The kids were unaware of my Calvary, however. They adored their father and he loved them in return, that I wallowed alone in my misery. I consoled myself by reading the Holy Bible. “Love beareth all things…”

September 18, 2006:

During the past two years, my heart became numb with pain from the constant calls of his mistress. I suffered in silence, ignoring his late –nights out, his missing shirts, and the indications of his infidelity. My love for him and our children was greater than my pain. You may call me a fool, but the happiness of my children was foremost in my mind.

But that day, the woman called, “We will be starting a business, do you want to be our guest?”

A nerve snapped in my head and that did it! I had had enough of this BS!

When he came home that night, I confronted him and had hoped to high heavens, that he would deny my accusations, but all I got was the silence of acceptance. I pounced at him when he attempted to take me in his arms and snarled vicious words at him in my anger.

That night after the kids slept, I slept in a different room for the first time. I prayed so hard for divine guidance. God help me to be strong!When morning came, Jayson acted as if nothing happened and I joined his charade in front of the children.

December 24, 2007:

My husband urged our youngest son to light the Christmas candle. We all cheered when it exploded into a kaleidoscope of colors.

“Happy new year!” Jayson kissed and hugged me tightly.

Our children trooped to kiss and hug us both.

I gazed happily at the family that I had fought tooth and nails to keep whole. I thank my lucky stars my love for them was great enough to weather the storms that had crossed our path. I thank God for making me realize that the painful events that occurred were just some of the crosses I have to carry stoically, for they will all come to pass.

It was difficult at first to forgive Jayson when he had pleaded for forgiveness. He realized that he had to choose between his family and his mistress and that he could not have both.

We had moved to another town to start anew , and it was all worth it. The woman attempted to call Jayson several times through his cell phone, but he ignored it. He decided to change his number when it was evident, she would not stop. She was an ardent pursuer –that woman! Any man could fall into her claws just because of her persistence. I thank God, we were able to evade her venomous reach.

Happily- ever- after endings do happen in real life. It takes TRUE LOVE, understanding, and forgiveness to be able to achieve it.

I’m happily snuggled up with my husband right now, as I write the draft of this story. He’s contentedly watching our children opening their gifts.

wow! it’s a great story, Jena:) you know, the first few months of my marriage…I had a hard time adjusting. Although I had prepared and had equipped myself with the necessary values, traditions and wisdom my Mom had taught us over the years…still, it’s quiet difficult. And with just one simple book, I had drawn enormous strength and reading all the true stories had helped me see some things. Things that I haven’t bothered looking coz I was so selfish, I care about myself so much… The Book was “Amazing Grace for Married Couples”… it was really a great read:)hope you have a wonderful day!

and yes, love is meant to last forever… for love by nature is selfish…it has no other desire but to fulfill itself:)wish you all the best for your upcoming book. May you inspire more people with the collections of positive stories.God bless,~~shawie

I apologize for not visiting in a while. Family, home, work, and continuing education courses on-line have gotten in a way of my blogging life!

Wow! Is this Jean’s real life story? It made me teary-eyed because it’s so close to home. It reminded me of a true life story of one of my dearly beloveds. Only, it didn’t end happily for her, unfortunately.

Yes, Love can mean to last forever. Unfortunately love can die also, as in the case of Mel Gibson and his wife.

I’ve just heard that they are devorcing after 28years of marriage. For three years now, they’ve lived separately and have grown apart. It’s either a relief for both of them or a traumatic situation. I hope that whatever they ultimately decide to do that they’ll be happy with their decision.

After such a heart-wrenching situation, I’m glad that Jean’s story has a happy ending. I can only imagine what I’d do in a similar situation.

Hi Jena, I don’t know where to send you an email so I just try commenting here. I just want to ask where are you going to publish your book. I mean, who is the publisher? Just a friend from India needs some publisher and he was looking somewhere else because in India they just support textbooks for schools. I just want you to ask about the publisher that will sell the book that you’re going to publish in June. Thanks. You can just email me here – igvirene@gmail.com.

Mary Joycelle Saulogrequested me to repost her comment here, as it was posted in the other article. It’s a kind and well thought of comment and she says:

“This story made me almost cry…because I could relate somehow on the woman’s agony…just recently, our marriage was confronted with a great challenge..something that never occurred to me will happen..for I know our LOVE for each other is too strong…and nothing or no one can ever break it…

Yet..life is really full of surprises…we never know what will happen next…then, it just happened…a woman came along..temptation it is…he admitted it to me…it is so painful…i could hardly reach my breath…my heart pounding so fast..my mind seemed too busy…processing concepts of what’s, why’s, how’s…nevertheless..he pleaded for forgiveness…another chance maybe… to start life anew..

Love still exists…no matter how strong pain incurred…it’s still the same..not even broken into two…though forgiveness…i don’t know…maybe time will tell…

so i ask for divine providence..to give me strength…because i know…if it’s only me…forgiveness is impossible…

right now…things are back to normal…love is helping…to get us out of the shadow…of the past…

a favorite quote from a cartoon movie “past is history, future is mystery, but today..is a gift..that’s why it is called present”…

—yoj118—-

Thanks MJ,

I understand how you feel. True love finds ways to heal and cure a grieving heart. Be strong and believe in its power.